Holidays Can Be a Pain in the Back

The hol­i­day sea­son can bring fun times with fam­i­ly and friends – but cer­tain fes­tiv­i­ties can bring back and spine pain as well. This win­ter, be aware of these poten­tial pain trig­gers so you can avoid back dis­com­fort and enjoy your­self through­out the season.

Shop­ping

Hol­i­day shop­ping can be fun, but the real­i­ty is that you may spend much of your time stand­ing in long lines or car­ry­ing heavy or over­sized bags and pack­ages. This can put strain and stress on your spine, back, legs and feet caus­ing pain or aggra­vat­ing exist­ing injuries and con­di­tions. Alle­vi­ate these strains by tak­ing reg­u­lar breaks to sit and rest while brows­ing the stores. Be sure to lift items with prop­er tech­nique by bend­ing at the hips and knees, keep­ing your back per­pen­dic­u­lar to the ground and lift­ing with your legs. Don’t hes­i­tate to ask for help car­ry­ing or load­ing items if you feel you need it! 

Trav­el

Many of us trav­el dur­ing this time of year to see friends and fam­i­ly. Neck and back pain can inten­si­fy when trav­el­ing, espe­cial­ly long dis­tances, due to extend­ed seden­tary sit­ting posi­tions, lack of lum­bar sup­port and han­dling of heavy lug­gage. You can make lug­gage han­dling much eas­i­er by pack­ing light, using wheeled lug­gage, lift­ing lug­gage with your legs rather than your back and ask­ing for help, if need­ed, to put your belong­ings in over­head bins or the trunk of your car.

While trav­el­ing, be aware of your pos­ture and adjust your seat to pro­vide you with opti­mum support:

• Keep feet flat on the floor.

• Check the curve of your low­er back to make sure it’s get­ting lum­bar sup­port from your seat. You may want to trav­el with a small pil­low if you need addi­tion­al support.

• Align your ears over your shoul­ders and keep from hunch­ing your back.

• Head­rests should sup­port the mid­dle of your head and should not push your head forward.

It also helps to take breaks to get up, stretch and move around so you aren’t expe­ri­enc­ing back pain once you arrive at your destination.

Overnight Accom­mo­da­tions

Wak­ing up to back pain isn’t a great way to start your day – but can hap­pen when you’re stay­ing overnight away from home. With some advance prepa­ra­tion and calls, you can plan your stay so that you’re com­fort­able and hope­ful­ly free from back pain. If you have the abil­i­ty to choose, select a medi­um to firm mat­tress that does not sag. If the mat­tress is very soft, avoid sleep­ing on your abdomen. If you already have back pain, avoid sofa beds if possible. 

Hol­i­day Foods

Every­one has a favorite hol­i­day food or treat and many times we indulge at par­ties and get-togeth­ers. You might think gain­ing a pound or two can’t hurt too much but the real­i­ty is that we often gain more weight than we real­ize and that weight can be hard to lose – putting addi­tion­al stress on your back and spine. The good news is you can still enjoy your favorite tra­di­tions and treats – just be mind­ful of how much you’re eat­ing and incor­po­rate some exer­cise to off­set any extra calo­ries you may consume.

Dec­o­rat­ing

Bright lights and col­or­ful dec­o­ra­tions look great, but you may want to ask for help putting up the tree this year if you’ve got back pain. Haul­ing a tree, tak­ing down box­es from the attic and string­ing lights on the roof are easy ways to injure your­self as they require move­ments that put added strain on your spine and back. 

Win­ter weather

Snow, ice, rain and sleet are all part of liv­ing in Chicagoland in the win­ter, but it can be a lit­er­al pain in the back. Be sure to wear the prop­er footwear in inclement weath­er and look for icy or wet spots on pave­ment, side­walks and floors to avoid slip­ping or twist­ing your back. When shov­el­ing snow, be sure to lift with your legs, not your arms or back and use a snow blow­er or ergonom­ic snow shov­el with a curved han­dle. Drink­ing plen­ty of flu­ids, dress­ing warm­ly and stretch­ing can help pre­vent injury too. Even bet­ter – hire a ser­vice or neigh­bor to do the heavy lift­ing for you!

Fol­low­ing these tips can help you avoid back stress and pain so you can enjoy the sea­son ful­ly. If you do hurt your back and need some relief this hol­i­day sea­son, sched­ule an appoint­ment with a Duly orthopaedic provider today.